If your car’s tires are wearing unevenly, an out of whack wheel alignment is probably the culprit. Poor alignment will not only wear out your tires prematurely, it will also negatively affect the vehicle’s handling and fuel efficiency, and can even create safety risks.
Alignment shops are common, but in recent years, a variety of DIY tools and kits have come to market that allow you to perform your own alignments, which can save you some bucks.
Here’s how you can perform a wheel alignment at home.
Wheel Alignment Basics
Wheel alignment involves adjusting the orientation of the wheels with respect to the road and to each other. Its primary purpose is to ensure that the wheels are within the manufacturer’s intended specifications for a few different measurements, found in your owner’s manual.
There are typically three angles adjusted during a wheel alignment: camber, caster and toe. Each one is measured in degrees, though toe is sometimes reported in inches or millimeters. Some cars have adjustments only for toe.
- Caster is the angle of the steering axis when viewed from the side of the vehicle. It helps stability, steering, and returnability of the wheels to the straight-ahead position after a turn. Positive caster means the steering axis is tilted toward the rear of the vehicle. For most cars, this angle is adjusted on the front axle only.
- Camber angle measures the tilt of the wheels when viewed from the front or rear of the vehicle. If the top of the wheel is leaning outward, it's positive camber; if it's leaning inward, it's negative camber. Proper camber ensures the tires can develop the maximum grip when cornering without wearing out the tire prematurely.
- Toe is the angle the front of the tires point relative to the centerline of the vehicle, as viewed from above. Toe-in is when the front of the tires point inward, and if they point outward, it's toe-out. Correct toe alignment contributes to straight-line stability, proper tire wear and effects steering response.
It’s best to measure and set caster first before moving on to measuring and setting camber. Generally, caster and camber adjustments at the front axle affect each other to some degree. Getting both where they need to be usually takes a few iterations. Adjust toe last. It affects the other measurements less than camber and caster affect toe.
Setup is Key
An important aspect of doing alignments at home is finding a flat and level surface. If the car is not exactly level, the alignment measurements won’t be perfect, however, the results will be “close enough”, especially if you’ve got access to a nice flat slab of concrete.
The car also needs to be resting on its tires the entire time and it needs to be high enough off the ground so you can reach the suspension to make adjustments. Unfortunately, most sports cars are usually too low to reach the suspension adjusters if the car is on the ground. In this situation you can purchase a set of height adjustable raised platforms, one for each tire and level the car with the platform’s adjustable feet and a tape measure. You can be far more precise and compensate for an uneven surface if you use a cheap laser level for about $20 and a universal square like this one.
Get the Right Equipment
It is also very important that the tires are allowed to move when you adjust the suspension, and you’ll need to measure those adjustments precisely. For this we recommend you buy a set of turn plates like these if you’re adjusting caster. They aren’t inexpensive and they’ll make this job a lot easier. If you only need to adjust camber and toe, you can use cheaper slip plates like these.
There are also wheel alignment kits available like this one that include the turn plates as well as other equipment you’ll need like a pair of caster and camber gauges and the lip pins to attach them to your car’s front wheels.
Take Your Time
Doing alignments at home isn’t for everyone. You’ll have to invest in some tools and setup to do it right, but if you’re methodical and detail-oriented, it’s possible to perform excellent alignments without going to an alignment shop.
And over time, that will not only save you money, it’ll give you that hard earned satisfaction you can only get by doing the job yourself.
